Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemPrincipal expertise and problem-solving in three independent girls' schools in Victoria, Australia(University of Melbourne, 2000)
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ItemWhat drives schools to implement a successful change process that is more inclusive of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) students and staff?( 2019)Schools are rarely the spaces of fairness, kindness, inclusion and equality that some perceive them to be. At its heart, this work is one that considers how school leaders understand and react to the discrimination and oppression of lesbian, gay, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals within their environment and, more importantly, what drives engaged, visible school leaders to change these situations. The key research question that is going to be considered is; ‘What drives schools to implement a successful change process that is more inclusive of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) students and staff?’ Flowing from this question are the sub-questions - What is the role of school leadership? What is the role of teachers? What are the significant forces and factors that help or hinder the drive for change? This thesis utilises qualitative research and narrative inquiry using semi-structured interviews to collect data from participants at school sites in Victoria, Australia. The semi-structured interviews are analysed using critical theory, in order to understand motivations, actions and behaviours. Critical theory concepts such as power, oppression, culture, repressive tolerance and leading change have contributed to the analysis. The data chapters in the thesis first consider the broad, wide-ranging idea of culture and environment and how these impact LGBTQ change processes. There is a focus on visible leadership within school spaces and the ability to manage change in a difficult social environment. In the two final data chapters, there is a more detailed description of the factors that enable change and those that hinder it within schools. The conclusion draws together the findings from the data chapters in order to address the research questions. This thesis ends with a section considering the road ahead for LGBTQ inclusive practice. The underlying emphasis of this thesis is to understand what prompts school leadership to move from a position of wanting to do something for their LGBTQ community to overt action, with leaders engaging and driving the change process in a positive and affirming manner. There are schools in the State of Victoria that have adopted overt and clear LGBTQ-inclusive policies or programs, and this work illuminates the way they went about managing the process of implementing and running those policies and programs. The thesis investigates the point that exists between the expectations of diversity and inclusivity, documented by government and education authorities, and the eventual adoption and implementation of school policies or actions focusing on LGBTQ students and staff. The underlying purpose of doing this research is to inspire change within the schooling system and to document the path to success and its benefits. It is envisioned that the research will help schools and education authorities to drive more action in this space. This thesis will assist schools, facing the legal and increasingly social expectations for change and with the prerequisite tools and resources for change, to move beyond a hesitant position and into one of action, so that, one day, schools can indeed become spaces for fairness, kindness, equity, and inclusion.
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ItemA study of transformational and transactional leadership among leaders at the Rajabhat University, Thailand( 2007)The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the leadership styles and organizational culture in The Rajabhat University in Thailand as viewed from the leaders' and non-leaders' perspectives. The study examined leadership behavior based on the notions of transformational and transactional leadership. A survey research methodology was used to gather data from six departments in The Rajabhat University. A total of 96 leaders and 99 non-leaders responded to the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), and 95 leaders and 101 non-leaders responded to the Organizational Description Questionnaire (ODQ). Leaders perceived their leadership styles to be transformational. Conversely, the non-leaders perceived the leadership styles of their leaders as highly transactional. These results were confirmed by the results of the organizational culture surveys both leaders and non-leaders agreed that the organizational culture were moderately transformational and highly transactional, with non-leaders viewing organizational culture as more transactional than that viewed by the leaders. Transformational leadership culture has been associated with improved organizational outcomes These findings suggest that organizations like The Rajabhat University may need to develop a more transformational leadership culture.
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ItemManagers perceptions of workplace learning( 1999)This thesis sets outs the post-industrial organisation as the learning context in which the manager manages. By highlighting the set of skills that is required of the post-industrial manager it then examines how the manager learns these in the course of daily work. This was achieved by conducting interviews with a limited range of managers who are employed by the same retailing company but work across two store locations. What is apparent is that the successful manager needs to be able to respond to the emotionality of the workplace by having well honed 'people' skills of which communicability is uppermost. It was found that the 'people' skills were not only the hardest to learn but also contributed to the definition of the successful manager. The thesis also establishes that managers learn to manage in and through the workplace experiences of managing thereby supporting the contention that learning is fundamentally a socialisation process which occurs within a specific context and, within that, the most meaningful individual learning is, indeed, experiential. Learning to manage is very much about dealing with 'people' issues and, in this respect, the experiences of trial and error, then reflection, are the manager's teacher.
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ItemCompassionate leadership in schools( 1997)This thesis explores two concepts - compassion and leadership - and their relationship to success in suburban schools of an Australian city. Compassion is a concept - an over-arching value - that is, for most people, not immediately associated with leadership. Compassion involves more than sentimental pity for another. It also involves passionate action directed towards the relief of suffering by another. Increasingly, leadership of many organisations is being seen in far more complex terms than personality or a particular situation. The important role that the values an individual brings to their organisation, and the connection of those values to success, is emerging. Compassion is a key value that is thought to be underpinning much successful leadership. The literature underpinning both compassion and leadership are reviewed. The purpose of this study is to find out what it is that principals do in exercising compassion in schools, how that compassion affects success in the school and what life influences may have caused a principal to develop compassion. Compassionate leadership by principals is studied through the development of a model which connects eleven elements of compassion - celebrative, passionately active, justice-making, benevolently loving, creative, non-elitist, networking, transpersonal, pain relieving, transcendent and fun-filled - with the four leadership frames of Bolman and Deal (1991) - the structural, human resource, political and symbolic. A questionnaire developed from this framework provides a quantitative method to find out about compassionate leadership, in particular, how those compassion elements are influenced by the four leadership frames. This quantitative approach augments a qualitative approach which involved eighteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews concerning compassion on the part of the principal during a critical incident in the life of the school. The qualitative approach of Miles and Huberman (1994) is used to better understand the interview transcripts. The quantitative and qualitative data are then synthesised. The compassionate leadership model suggested has strong statistical support that shows the relative contribution of each leadership frame to each compassion element. For example, it is shown that the celebrative element of compassion is contributed to most by the symbolic and political leadership frames and that two of the principals in the study showed clear evidence of acting in both political and symbolic ways when celebrating the lives of dead students. This may be helpful in guiding leaders to improve their compassionate stance. The relative contribution of each element in the model to compassion is suggested, with the four most important compassion elements identified as: transpersonal, pain relieving, passionately active and benevolently loving. Success in each of the schools studied is shown to have been influenced by compassionate action on the part of the principal and a number of compassion-developing influences in the lives of the principals studied are identified, such as key adults, early personal struggle and service to others at an early age. It is recommended that the compassionate leadership model be used by leaders, in conjunction with context-rich qualitative data for specific individuals, to reflect upon, and self-appraise, their own behaviour. The model can also be used as part of course work preparation of potential leaders. Recommendations for future studies include seeking student views on compassionate leadership, investigating gender differences more closely, and finding out about compassionate leadership in other cultural contexts.
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ItemFlexible leader behaviour and change management( 1999)This thesis examines the relationship between flexible leader behaviour and effective and efficient management of change at a middle level within a public sector organisation. The organisation provides programs to assist the English as a Second Language educational and vocational needs of its clients. Three major areas of recent successful change management were identified: tenders, new program provision, and audits as part of a quality assurance system. These three areas provided the context in which leader behaviour, what the middle managers actually did, was examined. The setting was four separate metropolitan centres. Twenty-eight subjects participated, seven from each centre. Theories were developed from the relevant literature about the properties of flexible leader behaviour and factors that promote it. These culminated in the design of a theoretical framework. Its purpose was to illustrate the interrelatedness and interdependence of many of the themes and factors associated with demonstrated flexible behaviour.. Three research questions guided the study. Various data collection modes were used to establish consensus for terms used and to explore leader behaviour. Analysis of the data demonstrated that the use of a Conceptual Framework Grid was appropriate and provided a second dimension in analysis, aligning behaviour with performance outcomes. The findings produced evidence of collaborative leadership in an organisation the culture of which values access and equity for all. However, no causal link was established between behaviour and performance outcomes that would hold for every occasion. Rather, it was found that clusters of factors specific to that organisation enhanced performance outcomes. Intrinsic to these factors was a predisposition for tolerant, empathetic, responsive leader behaviour that was focused on needs. The study illuminated good practice at a level that is becoming increasingly important for management in Australia.
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ItemCollaborative leadership in inner city schools of Melbourne( 1994)This thesis examines leadership and its links to success in inner city schools of Melbourne, reflecting the view that the role of leaders and the process of leadership are significant contributing factors in the achievement of successful school improvement. In Victoria at the present time there is relentless change at both the school and system level. Schools are in a constant state of reorganisation with the dismantling of centralised authorities, including support services and standard operational procedures and processes. Roles and responsibilities of school principals are being revised. Many schools are being closed down as part of the government's rationalisation policy. Others are being amalgamated. Many members of staff are being required to transfer to different schools, whilst others are taking financial "packages" and early retirement. Moreover, inner city schools are confronted with further responsibilities. Students in these schools often come from low socio-economic, non-English speaking backgrounds and have special social welfare and educational needs. Staffing arrangements must serve the specific needs of transient migrant groups and innovative curriculum provision is a necessity to target the requirements of an inner city clientele. Clearly, then, skilful and imaginative leadership is imperative to cope with such a context and to bring about success. The purpose of the investigation is to establish what it is that leaders do in these schools to achieve success and school improvement, despite the prevailing difficulties. The focus is on the notion of collaborative leadership, developed and defined in this thesis as one which is transformational and encompasses distinctive elements of collaboration. Collaborative leadership is interpreted and analysed through the four central frames of leadership - structural, human resource, political and symbolic - of the Bolman and Deal (1991) typology. A qualitative approach was seen as an appropriate means of investigation, firstly, in order to provide full descriptions and explanations of the primary data and, secondly, to capture the critical features of what it was that leaders did in their daily practice to bring success to their schools. The qualitative approach described by Miles and Huberman (1984) incorporating data reduction, data display and data collection and conclusions drawing/verifying, was adopted. The findings clearly indicate that specific collaborative leader behaviour, using a repertoire of structural, human resource, political and symbolic dimensions, can lead to success in schools. Leaders used structural arrangements to establish democratic procedures which were inclusive rather than exclusive, seeing the operation of the school as a collective responsibility of teachers, parents, and, where appropriate, students. Human resource elements brought mutual respect, as well as professional and community cooperation and support. Political leadership behaviour centred around empowerment, open and frank discussion, and a striving for consensus. Symbolic dimensions contained the beliefs, values, attitudes and norms of behaviour of leaders, denoting and directing fundamental purposes and processes. In addition, the researcher has extended these findings into hypothesised causal links, which when synthesised, offer four distinctive factors as fundamental to a fully functioning collaborative culture, namely, development of educational potential, professional development of teachers, good organisational health and institutionalisation of vision. This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or graduate diploma in any tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by any other person, except where reference is made in the text.
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ItemAn exploration of the preparation and training of Samoan secondary school principals for leadership( 2000)This study is an exploration of the preparation and training of Samoan Senior Secondary Principals for leadership in school. The study utilised a qualitative methodology as the perspective of the principals was sought. The particular research instrument used were semi-structured interviews. These interviews were audio taped and fully transcribed. This raw data was complemented by a form which was used to establish background material on each principal. The themes that were identified, with the aid of a grid which displayed the data, raised a number of issues facing Samoan leaders. The literature review set the context for current Samoan education, by giving an historical view of the development of education since the arrival of Europeans in Samoa in the 1830s. This historical perspective revealed that many of the issues that affect Samoan Education today have had a long standing impact in Samoa. The context in which principals exercise their leadership is both complex and problematic. The analysis of results used the verbatim quotes of participants to highlight the issues. A key issue is the appropriateness of the transfer of models of leadership training from a Western perspective in Samoa. The conclusion reached in this study is that the range of issues that face a leader in a Samoan Secondary school, require an approach to preparation and training for leadership that is not currently occurring. Samoan principals in this study have not received a level of training for leadership that specifically addresses the concerns faced as leaders in their schools.
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ItemLeadership and successful implementation of change in Thailand( 2003)The research aimed to investigate how leaders behaved and were perceived by their staff to behave during a period of successful change. More specifically the study examined the work of leaders who acted strategically, namely, the presidents of Rajabhat Institutes in Bangkok, when a new policy, Mass Education, was introduced and successfully implemented. The methodology used for this study was the qualitative approach. The study focused on the strategic leadership of the Presidents of two Rajabhat Institutes and used a semi-structured interview method and documentary review to collect data. The participants were the Presidents of the two Rajabhat Institutes, six administrative staff and six teachers from each Institute. Five elements of strategic leadership were used as a framework for analysis. The discussion of the findings was aided by a conceptual framework of strategic leadership, educational change and Thai culture. The findings revealed that the Presidents achieved success in the implementation of change through their actions, as classified according to the five elements in a framework of strategic leadership. It is apparent that both Presidents were very much concerned about global knowledge. Their knowledge of global and local trends gained them the trust of their colleagues. During their term as Presidents, they planned for the Institutes to enter into partnerships with international universities, with the aim of benchmarking on an international scale. Their vision was reflected in changes at the Institutes. The Presidents and their leadership teams collaborated as the key agents of change. In sharing knowledge and encouraging others, both Presidents performed the role of knowledge generators, mostly through communication in both formal and informal ways, which they considered their forte. The Presidents selected ways, appropriate for their own organisations, to share knowledge. Along with knowledge and support, the Presidents supported teachers by making resources available and by providing incentives for good work. In establishing structure, setting priorities and being key sources of expertise, the Presidents achieved their vision by aligning structures with plans and the tasks to be performed. They served as good models of hard work, dependability, and forthright action. This study revealed little about the long-term plans, which were flexible due to insufficient budgets. They effectively managed the annual governmental budgets of their Institutes to provide resources to support teachers and students. In ensuring the attention of the organisation's community was focused on important change, the Presidents worked hard to support the national reform agenda and to build human resources for community development. Their ability to provide knowledge through information technology was an appropriate way to serve the country in the implementation of the Mass Education policy. Strategic intent was apparent in the framework of the plan in its attempt to achieve desired outcomes. Strategic planning in the use of information technology contributed to achieving the goal. The use of advanced technology in learning and teaching enabled the Institutes to provide a wide range of curricula for the communities they served. The strong emphasis on community development led to cooperation between Institutes and the community. In monitoring and reviewing the implementation of policy, the Presidents informally and indirectly evaluated the programs. The purpose of evaluation was to improve the learning and teaching processes. The Presidents gave rewards and incentives to the teachers for good performance. The study revealed that the successful change that resulted from their strong strategic leadership was influenced by Thai values and Buddhist culture. The study showed that the Presidents were aware of the values and the culture of the people they were working with. Self-concept and self-esteem as well as ego-self are important when considering change. Senior status and hierarchical chain of respect are also important. The values of bun-khun (pay back) and krengjai (deference) were used on many occasions to ensure cooperation. The personal preference for "true-good-friend" (Kalayanamitr) also played a major role. The Presidents' ability to encourage staff to commit to change also reflected personal preference. In regard to Buddhist culture, the study revealed that both Presidents observed four aspects of Dhamma-oriented leadership: Wisdom Power, Effort Power, Faultlessness Power and Kindliness Power. In addition, the Buddhist culture of a middle way, and a harmonious and peaceful life led to avoidance of problems or confrontation. Persuasive talk, or looking for the next person to do the task, was the choice. Recommendations are offered for improving the practice of strategic leadership and for the conduct of research in the Thai setting.
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ItemGuiding, guiding : constructing leadership for young women( 2001)Guiding Guiding, Constructing Leadership for Young Women by Felicity Wightwick seeks to answer the research question: To what extent are young women's perceptions of leadership experiences shaped by formal training?' The reactions of several young women from Guides Australia to their leadership experiences, in particular the Guides Australia/BHP Young Leader (Leading Edge) seminar held in July 1999, are explored. Although the number of participants is small and therefore the findings limited, some interesting and worthwhile themes emerged from the research. This includes a leadership model that provides a possible structure upon which training that seeks to further the concept of community capacity building could be based.